Shaheen Ali

White aubergine is found in various parts of Chattisgarh. I wasn’t familiar to this white beauty until i myself went to shop for vegetables in a local market near to my house and was amazed to see white aubergines. Anticipation built up and i just couldn’t resist myself from asking the lady vegetable seller that how is this cooked. Though she told me a very basic recipe of it which she probably use to make , but somewhere i thought that this would taste even great when teamed up with pickled spices. In my home, pickles are often supplied by…

Holi hai bhai Holi hai…Bura na mano Holi hai! The festival of colors that bring in joy, love, happiness and brotherhood is celebrated in almost every part of the country. Different regions have different style of celebrating. Some play with colors where as some play with flowers. Barsane ki Holi is famous in its own way, where men and women gather at a place in the city of Lord Krishna , Mathura, and woman all armed with big sticks beat their husbands who hold shield to protect themselves. It is also known as ‘Lath mar Holi’! Similarly in Rajasthan ,…

I love Indian breads, for the reason that we have so many varieties in it. From rotis to the parathas, from naan to kulchas and from theplas to puris…everything is just so delicious and filling. Those who love fenugreek will agree with me that this one leafy vegetable can be used in various ways to enhance the flavor of the dish. One such enticing fried Indian bread is Methi ki Puri… call it poori or puri, it’s all the same. Hot fluffy methi puris are something which i love to have with pickles. The flavors are so wonderful and want…

SHAKSHUKA …. in Israel Shakshuka means Breakfast. Baked eggs on a spicy bed of tomatoes and peppers is a famous Middle Eastern Breakfast. This delicious breakfast is healthy and keeps your tummy fill the whole day. Loaded with the goodness of veggies and eggs is a rich source of protien and vitamins. Shakshuka is normaly baked but can also be made on a stove top. The egg whites spread on the bed of tomato sauce and gives a foamy, cushion texture with runny yolks. I personally don’t like runny yolks hence, i chose to bake it a little more than…

Nolen Gur | Palm Jaggery is produced in West Bengal and sold world wide during winters. Usually the bengalis as well as others who know about this , purchase this jaggery in winter season and stock it for the whole year. As my mom belongs to West Bengal, i have grown up seeing her stocking up her pantry with fresh Nolen Gur. Nothing can beat the taste of delicacies made with Nolen Gur. Even in my blog i have made sure i add lots of Nolen Gur recipes. It’s tasty and healthier than the seets made with sugar etc. Whether…

It’s been a decade now when i first started my cooking. Through out these years i discovered that developing a recipe is the most fun doing task in the kitchen and the left overs help doing this the most. Yes you heard me right, left over food are the best when recycled or reused by turning them into a very new dish. One of my favorite recycled dish made using left over Gujrati Kadhi or Chaas (Butter Milk) is Poha Idlis. Last night i suddenly noticed that a bowl full of Gujarti kadhi is resting inside the fridge. I made…

Summers are here and the days are getting hotter day by day. This is the season when our body gets dehydrated and requires lots of fluid intake. We need to keep our stomach full with cool and hydrated body. Though there are lots of energy drink and refreshers we get in summers but the most delicious and easiest of them is ROSE LASSI. Rose flavored sweet yogurt drink is filling and super refreshing. Today the post is focused mainly on the pictures…. though i shall be sharing the recipe too but you can also call it as a picture post….

Flavored yogurt curry that comes from the colorful Gujrat can be included as soup, starter or main course. The Gujrati kadhi is little different from the Punjabi, Sindhi or Maharashtrian Kadhi that usually comes with bhajiya or pakoda. Gujrati kadhi is warm, mildly sweet and extremely warm to the palate and digestive system. The consistency is not as thick as those regular kadhi, it’s thin and the sweetness comes by adding either sugar or jaggery. Flavored with ginger, green chilies, clove and cinnamon and tempered with curry leaves, mustard seeds and broken dry red chili… comes with a garnish of…

A famous street food and a staple from Nepal that has now captured the Indian food market as well. Momos can be referred as the first cousin of Chinese Baozi , Japanese Gyoza and our very popular Indian Kozhukatta. Originated in Nepal and Tibet , the momos come in two basic version, fried and steamed. Though the original is the steamed version but we Indians derived the fried version too which somehwre resembles a lot to the sweet Modaks. Veg or Chicken, these are the two main options which we have in momos. White flour dough, rolled out , stuffed…

Celebrating Leap Year with some amazing Kathal Ki Biryani | Raw Jack Fruit Biryani. Finally the month of love is coming to end and through out this month i had been cooking so many sweets and desserts. A foodie family doesn’t need any occasion to celebrate… no matter what, we should have good food in our belly before we go to bed. By this we get nice foodie dreams as well…haha! So coming back to the point, after having indulged on all those exotic sweets and desserts the whole month, today i actually wanted to celebrate the day with some…

Coleslaw is a salad consisting primarily of finely-shredded raw cabbage and dressed most commonly with a vinaigrette salad dressing. Coleslaw dressing is also used for making sandwiches by using mayonnaise. There are many variations of the recipe, which include the addition of other ingredients such as red cabbage, pepper, shredded carrots, onion, grated cheese, pineapple, or apple, mixed with a salad dressing such as mayonnaise or cream. A variety of seasonings, such as celery seed, may be added. The cabbage may come in finely minced pieces, shredded strips, or small squares. Other slaw variants include broccoli slaw, which uses shredded…

Bengal culture somewhere fascinates me a lot, may be because my maternal side belongs to the royal Bengal. Not just the food, but the art and culture etc , each and everything is simply amazing here. And when it comes to food, there can’t be anything better than Bengali Sweets and desserts. Mostly made out of milk/ milk products, need to be consumed withing 1-2 days… but who cares when the sweets are so delicious it’s difficult to store more than a day. One such creamy luscious authentic and traditional bengali sweet, served in special occasions is CHANAR PAYESH. Thick…